Hayward v. Clay

BUTZNER, Circuit Judge:

The questions for decision are whether a South Carolina statute conditioning the holding of an annexation election upon a majority vote by the freeholders in the area to be annexed violates the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution, and whether the challenged portions of the statute are severable from the remainder. The district court found the challenged provisions unconstitutional and severable. We affirm.

I

As one of several methods of annexation, the South Carolina Code provides that proceedings may be initiated by a petition signed by 15 percent of…